Party Planning: Desserts

How Much Is Enough?

When you’re planning a “finger food” dessert—cookies, brownies, and pastries—how much dessert is enough? You don’t want to run out; nor do you want to have too much in excess, resulting in wasted dollars or too much on your waist (from eating all of the leftovers). Here are some guidelines:

When serving sweets as a dessert, 4 to 6 ounces per person is sufficient.

For a dessert-only party, 8 to 10 ounces is sufficient, plus fresh fruit.

If you’re serving fresh fruit or fruit salad, count that in addition to the sweets.

8 ounces: 1 large brownie or bar, 1 large muffin, 1 jumbo cookie.
TIP: A brownie or muffin or this size is, in our opinion, “supersized”; unfortunately, it is the size that is usually found at bakeries, muffin shops, et al. It should be cut in half to make two portions. Guests will prefer to eat less and have more variety.

Like all guidelines, those above follow the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the guests will conform to them and 20 percent will eat either a lot more or will eat nothing at all.

Based on these guidelines, here’s how many pounds of sweets you need, assuming four ounces per person (if you know your family and friends are fiendish dessert hounds or compulsive dieters, adjust the numbers accordingly):

25 people: 6.25 pounds

50 people: 12.5 pounds

75 people: 18.75 pounds

100 people: 25 pounds

200 people: 50 pounds

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Solomon’s Cookie Assortment. Get some of the brownies and a variety of cookies in this wonderful assortment. Thirty cookies, $41.95. Click here for more information.